CGI artist Omar Hesham is well-versed in success across multiple animation industries, taking on various roles. His main priority is helping clients succeed, and his second focus is on sharing his knowledge and teaching others within the digital art space. His VFX artwork has been featured in several popular, top-box-office hits.
Building a Multifaceted Career in CGI and Animation
Hesham started his career as an outsider in the animation industry and gradually worked his way into the business, contributing to widely recognized TV shows and video games as a Senior 3D Character Artist. These shows included Star Wars’ The Mandalorian, Star Trek’s Picard, Westworld, Midway, The Watchmenseries, The Orville, Pokémon’s Detective Pikachu, Chaos Walking, and Goosebumps 2.
Beyond television, his work extends to video games, including Capcom’s Monster Hunter: World (10 million units sold in the first month), the Rocky franchise: Creed: Rise to Glory, and the Alien franchise: Rogue Incursion. He was awarded the Staff Pick 3D Total Excellence Award at 3DTotal, leading to an interview about his 3D modeling work.
Hesham created a digital creature artwork that was selected as one of the top 50 creatures by 3DTotal, and worked on a Netflix gaming project based on the Rebel Moon film franchise. He additionally contributed to two music videos for the band Coldplay. His film credits include serving as CFX (character effects) supervisor on a short film titled Grit, which was accepted into the AIU International Film Festival and produced by Axiamotion. Another independent short film featuring his work, The Beacon (2018), is now streaming on the DUST channel on Roku and won multiple awards, including Best VFX at the Boston Sci-Fi Film Festival, Best Sci-Fi at the LA Film Awards, and Best Picture at the LA Film Awards. His most recent work included an animation PSA project for Story Leaf. Social media health PSAs can be found on Story Leaf’s Instagram, and the 3D animated content receives millions of views thanks to its engaging health education content.
Contributions Beyond Major Productions
Beyond television, film, and gaming, Hesham’s expertise is varied. A project for Nickelodeon, judging an art contest for CGSociety, teaching a 3D art class at CGSociety, and teaching a design class at Visual Arts Passage School round out his contributions. He was also featured in an article in 3D World magazine (Issue 266, page 58), published a sponsored course on RebusFarm, was a guest speaker at Cal State University’s CSUF 3D art class, and had artwork published in Autodesk Area Gallery by staff selection.
Hesham started life in Cairo, Egypt, with the dream of working in visual effects and video games. He started school in 2009 at a university in Cairo, enrolled in a product design program, and took the only 3D modeling software classes available in the country at that time. Halfway through his program and unsatisfied with the limits of the curriculum and that what was being taught diverged from his goals, he left for the Academy of Art University in San Francisco. This program, unlike his first, was focused on entertainment media and better aligned with his goals. In proximity to industry companies such as Industrial Light and Magic, Pixar, and Tippet Studios, the university gave him access to some of the field’s best artists. This led to a local animation internship and a Bachelor’s of Fine Arts.
“I even worked with a supervisor who was one of the original animators on Pixar’s Toy Story, the movie that started the 3D animation revolution. It was a huge honor to work closely with him and many others like him every day,” he says.
Guiding the Next Generation
Hesham’s collaborative and technical approach to his craft was shaped by these experiences, which involved art direction, digital sculpting, and storytelling, creating emotionally engaging characters for a global audience. His work reflects the flexibility that defines modern animation, covering film, television, gaming, and educational projects. As entertainment technology evolves, Omar Hesham’s expertise enables him to help emerging artists develop more visually complex and appealing character art.